Vasectomy: a study of attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and practices among literate men in Punjab, India

Authors

  • Aditya Sood State Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Punjab, Phase 6, Mohali, Punjab, India
  • Parika Pahwa State Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Punjab, Phase 6, Mohali, Punjab, India

Keywords:

Vasectomy, Attitude, Beliefs, Male, Sterilization

Abstract

Background: Government launched the family planning program in India almost six decades back; further to that cause, it introduced non scalpel vasectomy to the public in 1992 aimed at male sterilization but despite of all the monetary incentives, IEC & BCC campaigns and increase in literacy rate, vasectomy still accounts for only 1 percent of all the family planning methods used across the nation. In Punjab, the coverage is just 0.6% and therefore this study was conducted to understand the attitude, knowledge, beliefs and myths amongst the participants in relation with vasectomy.

Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out in three districts of Punjab. Literate married and unmarried men of age group 18-60 years with education qualification above 10th standard were included in the study. A total of 225 males, 75 from each district irrespective of caste, religion or socioeconomic status were selected by random sampling method.

Results: 70% respondents had heard about vasectomy. 42% accepted it as a male contraceptive method but only 11% said that they would like to undergo the procedure in future. The primary reason cited for not undergoing vasectomy was that 53% men believed that tubectomy was a simpler procedure therefore their partners should undergo sterilization instead. 52% feared failure of the procedure and the bad name it would bring to the family; if partner gets pregnant.

Conclusions: Government’s IEC and BCC activities should focus more on addressing the myths and fears of men; related to vasectomy.

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References

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Published

2017-01-02

How to Cite

Sood, A., & Pahwa, P. (2017). Vasectomy: a study of attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and practices among literate men in Punjab, India. International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 3(2), 418–423. Retrieved from https://www.ijrcog.org/index.php/ijrcog/article/view/943

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Original Research Articles